Arsenal agree £80,000 per week new contract with forward

Arsenal have agreed a new contract worth £80,000 per week with injured striker Olivier Giroud, report the Mirror, with an announcement on the new deal, which will extend his stay at the club until 2018, expected in the coming weeks.

Giroud is out until the New Year with a serious injury sustained in the early season draw with Everton, but the handing over of a new long-term deal is a clear show of faith by Arsene Wenger in a player who has also seen his position compromised by the signing of Danny Welbeck.

When the two are both available for selection, however, it should give Wenger options in attack and the ability to switch around what kind of threat he is posing, something that Arsenal have not had at their disposal for a number of seasons.